December 2006 - Posts
Q: (from Josh)
If my customer buys Office 2003 Standard today (Retail Box), will he get any free upgrade coupons from to upgrade to Office 2007 Standard when it’s officially released?
A:
Qualifying software purchased between Oct 26, 2006 and March 30, 2007 may fall into Microsoft's Technology Guarantee for a free or low-cost upgrade to the new version. Details can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/techguarantee
For example:
Windows XP Pro -> Windows Vista Business (FREE)
Windows XP 64bit -> Windows Vista Business (FREE)
Windows XP Tablet PC -> Windows Vista Business (FREE)
Windows XP Media Center -> Windows Vista Home Premium (FREE)
Windows XP Home -> Windows Vista Home Basic ($49)
Windows XP Home -> Windows Vista Home Premium ($79)
Office Professional 2003 -> 2007 Office Professional (FREE)
* plus shipping & handling
Q: (from Sudhir)
kb843578 discussed how the Latin1_General_CI_AS_KS_WS was required on the SQL Server for Sharepoint 2.0. Has that changed in WSS 3.0?
A:
From the TechNet documentation found at: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/396c85d9-4b86-484e-9cc5-f6c4d725c5781033.mspx?mfr=true
Under “Office SharePoint Server 2007”, under “Deployment for Office SharePoint Server 2007”, under “Deploy Office SharePoint Server 2007 in a server farm environment”, under “Pre-install Databases”
“All of the databases required by Office SharePoint Server 2007 use the Latin_General_CI_AS_KS_WS collation.”
So it looks like the answer is “no” the requirements have not changed.
Q: (from Alan)
I have my Small Business Specialist certification now and I have a dumb question but I can’t find a number to call or person to email.
A:
Paige Boesen from the SBSC team recommends that you contact the SBSC Fulfillment team at sbscful@KPCorp.com.
Q: (from John)
I finally got Outlook 2007 to run. It insisted on changing my default fonts and adding a blue fade to the outgoing message. How do you get rid of the blue fade?
A:
It took a few minutes and some trial and error (OK, so I should have used help) but I found the option under Tools, Options, Preferences tab, Email Options button, Shade message headers when reading email check box.
What I noticed is that when I changed this option, I needed to switch messages to refresh the display.
Q: (from Jeff)
You had mentioned in your presentation that you use a free site that provides spam black lists or applicable for blocking spam. Can you provide the website information required to setup the content filtering in Exchange 2003.
A:
You can do a search on the web looking for RBL lists. I found this one today: http://www.email-policy.com/Spam-black-lists.htm
Although Microsoft has no specific recommendation for an RBL provider, I found that Spamhaus provides an acceptable free RBL list. But further research could find one that suites your spam better.
Q: (from Jeff)
I have stopped receiving the E-mail invitations to TS2 Seminars. Can you fix that?
A:
Ah, the age old problem of keeping “on the list.” I can’t change that information for you because of Microsoft’s Personally Identifiable Information Policy (I can’t see your information because that would be “mis-use” of your information)
But you should be able to change it by going to http://profile.microsoft.com and clicking on the Subscriptions link on the left side of the screen. Once there, down at the bottom, you need to check: “Microsoft may use the e-mail address I have provided above to contact me regarding important security, product, and event information.” So you don’t get inundated with random traffic, make sure you are subscribed to one or more of the partner newsletters.
Q: (from Vince)
I am having a serious issue with my Microsoft Partnership right now.
A:
For Partner Program Information and assistance, contact the Regional Service Center at 800-SOL-PROV
Q: (from Joseph)
Hi Steve, I have a customer that runs a hardware store. I would like to show them your Point Of Sale software. Is it possible to get a copy to use on my lap top for demo use only?
A:
Currently neither the Retail Management Software (RMS) nor the Point of Sale software (POS) are available via the ActionPack. The only way I've found to get a demo copy of those software solutions is to join the Retail Management System Partner program. You join the program by working through one of our RMS distributors which can be found at: http://www.partnerwithrms.com/
Q: (from Iggy)
How do you recover the data from a Bitlocker secured drive if the motherboard fails or the system owner is not available to provide the password?
A:
For support staff to have access to a Bitlocker encrypted drive, systems on a domain, store their public key in Active Directory. System not on a domain store their public key on a USB memory stick. The public key can be used by system administrators to unlock an encrypted drive on a new physical system. Detailed information can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/security/bittech.mspx
Q: (from Iggy)
Have the technical thresholds changed for reactivation?
A:
As far as I can tell, the hardware change count has not changed from Windows XP to Windows Vista. This is a great article on Windows XP reactivation: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/windowsxp/activation.html
Q: (from Dave)
We are beginning to get questions from our clients and prospects about Vista and 2007 Office and are considering putting on a short seminar(s) sometime early next year that would feature both of these new Microsoft products - something similar to what you did at the last two TS2 events (both held at the IMAX theater in King of Prussia). We envision this to be a 30-45 minute demo of the OS and productivity software delivered to relatively small groups with a significant amount of discussion and questions.
As a small company we (unfortunately) do not have the resources to dedicate to developing a scripted demo of features.
A:
Microsoft is in the process of creating a public version of our internal Vista/Office Demonstration Ready Toolkit (DRT6). It is an image with Windows Vista and 2007 Office along with scripts and slide decks that you would put on a system and use for doing demonstrations.
I'll post an update here when the DRT is publicly available and how to order a copy.
Q: (from David)
I also looked at the MS Gearup site and could not find the Microsoft Sales Toolkit or the ability to download free trial copies of the software. Has that changed?
A:
Here is a link to the MS-Gearup.com site for the Sales Toolkit. From here: http://www.ms-gearup.com/resources.asp you can order the printed version or download the electronic version. The other way to get there is to log onto the MS-Gearup.com site and choose Sales/Sales Tool Kit from the left hand menu.
Q:
I am an SBSC and would like to explore becoming a Citrix Silver Access Essentials Partner for free. Who do I contact?
A: (from the TS2 slide deck)
Become a Citrix Silver Access Essentails Partner for FREE!
- Limited time offer
- You must be an SBSC partner
- Contact Derek Cheung at Derek.Cheung@citrix.com or call 1-800-292-5039
- Reference your Region or PCM's name
Q:
Often partners ask what training resources are available to help them prepare to take the exams necessary for the Small Business Specialist Community (https://partner.microsoft.com/US/40021525).
A:
Typically I recommend the following approaches to passing 70-282 or 74-134:
First - nothing beats real world experience. The more hands-on experience you've got, the easier these exams are.
Second - review the exam outlines
For 70-282: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-282.asp
For 74-134: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/74-134.asp
Third - join a study group. Many of the Partner Community Managers host study groups in the local Microsoft offices (contact me to find out who your local PCM is). In addition user groups are a great source of peer study support (www.mindshare.com)
Fourth - if you have the budget, purchase one of the practice exams from:
MeasureUp:
http://www.measureup.com/catalog/product.aspx?vid=5&cid=MCSE&tid=19&pid=1473
Self Test Software:
http://www.selftestsoftware.com/product.aspx?product_id=70-282&Search=1
Trancender:
http://www.trancender.com/product.aspx?product_id=Cert-70-282&Search=1
Fifth - for a short time, Microsoft is offering a special study group that includes the exam. The cost is $350 for the one day session and is targeted at people who are ready to take the 70-282 exam but would like some structured pre-exam preparation. These are currently scheduled for January and details can be found at http://www.msreadiness.com/IL_abstract.asp?eid=5014743&seleid=5014743